Door-operating mechanism for mail-boxes.



W. S. CALCOTE.

000R OPERATING MECHANISM FOR IAII. BOXES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNEIIII H16.

1,21 6,067. Patentd Feb. 13, 1917.

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if 1" :I 0 o I W l u 20 U W'S'CQZ cafe To ,c z ZZ whom concert 11 ensecured to that side wall of therecepw tacle beyond which the free endof the bar U ITED ATE WTE NT QFFICE- 1 noon ornnn'rmojvmoimitrsrr FOR 1i'ArL-noxEs.

etk ewn a Wmmw C w rn, a citizen of the United States residing, atWellington, in; the, county of Gollingsworth and State of ,fl exas, haveinventedwcertain new and useful, Improvement? invDoorv- OperatingMechanism for Mail+l3oxes; ;and I do hereby declare the follpwingtQbe afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such, as willenable others skilled in the art to ,which it appertains3to make and usethe s me-v .-The, pr1mary object of this invention is the provision of anovel type of door operat g, c nism or. a oxes and l ke receptacles,that will admit of the door be ing conveniently and expeditiously openedele ed- I Anotherlobject of the; inventionisthe provision of mechanism,for carrying out the above object,,-that will be of simple and dur: ableconstruction, cheap to manilfacture and efiicientin operation.- 9 1 therobjects: will appeartand be better 1 ndfl$ Q9 1- om a emb diment to nyinvention of which the following isa specifi cation, :reference beinghad to the. accome panyingi drawing forming-n part thereof, avhi z y;

Figure ,1 is alsidelview a receptacle with the door closed andshowingthe door: operating mechanism associated with the rep end of than, .sidewall of the receptacle 1, upon-whicli' the operating mechanism ismounted, a1 11 the oppositeend of the spring 15 connected to the lever10 bylmeans of a pinl'fi v.

ceptacla I ar endvef there p clh, with t e. door pe dwe d, A

PF5 Qle h th door, de e sw h: he le ereniei th ileren a-s etion-x vwirin t9 he.. draWi n j etailathe ,ai na e ema a 1e,I, whi h isassociated the door .2,.,;and has on a guide 6 carried by the .Y-dQQIand' terminally extended beyond the adjacent side Wall of thereceptacle, as shown more clearly 1n i 3-wo.--.thedrawmg- A' e perflaheson connected to a plate 16 carried by the rear Fig.1 3 is a A elevationI the e -specification of Letters Patent. PatentedFeb 13, 19 7;f,1iipplieatiomfiledlune21.3, 1916'; Seria11tt-l-103A92. I

.4 projects, and the said keeper has one end projecting l eyond theadjacent end of. the receptacle a nd provided with a harbor or lockingnote h S. A- plate-9 is disposed below the keeper '1 and has-connectionwith the. adjacent sideavall of the receptacle 1 andpivotal lyassociated with. the plate '9 is an'operating lever L0, whichhas one endpivoted .to the'plate by means of a pivot bolt 11,, and the free en l ofthe lever 10 is curved, as shownat 12, to provide a gripping portion forthe accommodation of the handof the operator. v

The operating lever-10 is provided with an. opening 13, which receivesthe free end of the latcl bar 4, and the lower wall of the. opening 13:is inclined in the direction otthe receptacle 1, as shown at 14.

When; th1 jdQOI 2dS ineclosin-g position, the free end of, thelatch bar4 isreceived by the notch 8;. inithe lreeper 'l and the terminal'of thefreeend of; the latch bar 4 the lowerv e1 id of the wall 14 of theopening ,13, when the bar 2 is closed, a spring 15 is-providedi- Thisspring 15 has one end it i s to open the door 2;, the lever 10 is pulledoutwardly, causing the I freeend of the latch-bar 4 to ride upwardly onthe inclined wall 14 of thevopening 13, and-liberate the tree and of thelatch bar 4 from the aotch 8 inthe keeper 7;, the pull being continuedon the lever 10 causing tho latch bar 4 "toaconta'ct with the innerrsidewall 913 the openingf13so as toefl 'ect move ment. of 1121 door tosthopen position on the oontinu 5d; movement oithej lever 10, as shown i,;E g-L2 of t drawing.,. During-the ovement 2 )fstheE lever, 10 .to 1the position pended, S0 1 hatwhenithe lever 1.0is released he springwill return the door 2 and lever 10-townonm ml 'POSilliODgsfiS :shown in1 Fig. m1,

resulting in the free end of the bar 4 returning to t e 1 .otch 8 in thekeeper 7.

s owmial a 2,:t eisnringswfiwilllbe x- A stop 18 is carried by thekeeper 7 and is adapted to engage the inner-edge of the lever 10, whenthe lever is in the position shown in Fig. 1, so as to limit themovement of the lever and prevent strain being exerted on the free endof. th ellatch bar at. i The plate 9 is provided with a lateralextension 19, and the lever 10 has a bearing seat 20 formed thereinwhich receives a spherical head 21 carried by the bolt 11 so as to admitof the lever having alateral as well as a vertical movement. The forwardend ofthe plate 9 is extendedbeyond-the adjacent end of the receptacle 1and is reduced in thickness, as shown at 22, and the outer side of thereduced end is beveled, as shown in Fig. 3. A hook has its shankconnected to the lever 10 and its'bill projecting beyond the innerlongitudinal side of the lever. When the lever 10 is lowered the bill ofthe hook 23 comes in. contact with the hevele d side of the reduced end22 of the plate 9 and causes lateral deflection of the lever until thebill of the hook p'assesbelo'w the plate 9, after which the lever ismoved toward the plate 9 and the bill of the-hook engaged over the-loweredge of the redgiged end of theplate 9,'s o as to admit of the leverbeing-locked in lowered position and jhold the door 2 open to admit ofthe convenient insertion of large packages into the reeep tacle or theremoval of the same-from the receptacle.

Having thus described my invention what I claim'as new, is:

1. The combination with a'receptaclehav ing a door, of a keeper carriedby the recep tacle, a latch bar pivoted to the door having one endadapted to be operatively engaged by the keeper for normally holding thedoor closed, the said end of the late-h bar having its terminalprojecting beyond the "keeper, a lever pivoted to the receptacle and'havi'ng an opening therein-for receiving the extended terminal of thementioned end of the latch bar, and means for movingthe mentioned end ofthe latch" frohi en'ga gemeiit'with ;the keeper whentlile "lever ismoved in one direction so as to perm-itopening of the'doo'r. l

"2. The"combinati on with a receptacle having a door, of a keepercarried by 'tliencepta qle, alatch'barpivoted to the door and having oneend thereof adapted tobe operati'veiy engageitby the keepe thesaid endin'g bey'o-ndfthe kee er,ageyer iv te to receptacle and having petin'therern for receiving the extended terminal 025 the latchbar ineans for m'o'v'i g th mentioned terminal of; the'la'tchbarwithiii the peningin. the lever when the lever is moved in one direction so as todisengage,the latch bar from the keeper so as to permit opening of thedoor, and means for returning the door and lever to normal position.

3. 'l he combination with a receptacle; having a door therein of akeeper mounted on the receptacle, alatch bar pivoted to the door andadapted to have one end thereof operatively en agedty the keeper, theternasal f the mentioned end of the latch bar being extended beyondthe-keeper, afle'ver pivoted to the receptacle having an opening thereinfor the reception of the extended terminal of'the mentioned end of thelatch banthe lower all of the o ening being'inelind and providing a restfor the terminal of the mentioned end of the latch liar when the leveris in normal position, the said inclined wall'he'ing' adapted to [movethe mentioned end of the lever upwardly in the opening when theleveris'movd in onedi-rection so -as-to release the latch bar from the-=keeper-to admit opening of the door.

The combination with a. receptacle hav ing a door there-in, of akeepermolinted on tneree taele, a latch bar 'pi-votedto theaoerjandmaving one end adapted to be operativ'ely engaged the keeperwhen the door is closed,' a leier pivot'ed-to the receptacle andoperatively e gaging thelatchbar for 'Ino'v-i-ng l the late-11 bar fromengagement with-the keeper when the le'i' er is'nioved "in onedirection, so as to admit of the door being opened, "meansforiethrningthefl'ever and door to normal position when the lever is released, andmeans for limiting the movement of thelever upo'n return of the same to1 normal position.

5. 'In 'a receptacle having a door and an operating lever for the door,a plate moiintedontlie receptacle and'h aving oneenfl eX- rtenl'dedbeyo'n d the receptacle and reduced, the outer side of the extendedend'-bein'g beveled, meanscarriedby the "lever -''for engagingrte-reveled sidefof the reduced endof gthe plate during movement er the"lever in door opening direction so asto e'fliectlateral v i iven entoZ'thelever weeds-m d to'been lgaged beneath thejlfednced end or theplate when the-levelreaches the fend fits move- ,nent In a door openingdireetlon so as to g- Tel-d the lever against movement when the.noor-is'ppene l. V Y

Iii-testimony whereof I, afiix my signa- 'g tii're in presence oi -twowitnesses.

do re s'traius patgm m mi'ttainga -rorr e by; hi her-agitatpunimnrioner0f Qatents,

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